


that was then and this is now

by zyximb



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Cute Kids, Fluff, Hate to Love, Irrational Sehun lmao, M/M, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-27 22:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zyximb/pseuds/zyximb
Summary: it takes approximately one school year for sehun to come to the startling revelation that he does not hate byun baekhyun. not one little bit.





	that was then and this is now

**Author's Note:**

> prompt no. 9 for the north wind and the sun, a sebaek fic fest.
> 
> dedicated to the anon who pushed me to join the fic fest in the first place (not like forced me to but you know what i mean askjfhk) ♡

_ September _

There’s a thin line between love and hate. Or so they say. 

Sehun wasn’t sure if he agreed with this sentiment. If he did, it would mean that somehow, some way, some day, he could potentially _ love _Byun Baekhyun. That was impossible. He would rather spend an entire school year in a class of eighth graders than to go out with Byun Baekhyun. That was saying a lot considering Sehun absolutely detested middle schoolers, which was why he chose to teach elementary school in the first place. It was already bad enough that the school went from kindergarten to eighth grade, so he still had to see the older students around campus. 

It was Friday afternoon, towards the end of the day and the students were spending their remaining hour in art class, finishing up their ladybug projects. Sehun was sitting at his desk grading the spelling tests from that morning although he wasn’t actually doing much grading, more so grumbling to himself like a crazy person. 

The screaming and laughing outside his closed door informed him the students were back. He opened the door to reveal an extremely excited Naeun with her ladybug in the palm of her hands. Messily painted with red and covered with little black hearts instead of the normal spots.

“Look, Mr. Oh! Look at my ladybug!” 

Sehun grinned, bending down to look at the painted rock. “Wow, looks like a real ladybug. Nice work Naeun!” 

The six year old girl skipped happily to her desk after receiving compliments from her teacher. The rest of the students quickly poured into class with their projects, earning themselves a “no running boys and girls” from the teacher. He took a look at all the children at their desk and realized there was one missing. Before he could ask the class about it, Seungjae, along with the one person he was hoping he wouldn’t see, came walking through the door. 

“Look at my ladybug, Mr. Oh! Isn’t it cool? Mr. Byun let me pick the eyes out and everything!” the little boy chirped, looking up at the art teacher beside him. 

Sehun forced the corners of his lips up into a tight smile. Said art teacher looked up at him with a bright grin. _ How insufferable _.

“The kids had so much fun with this project. I’m thinking about doing something similar next week. Maybe a bee next time. Doesn’t that sound cute?” 

Baekhyun was all smiles. All the time. It should be pleasant. Who would want to work with a grumpy Gus all the time, right? Only when it came to Baekhyun did Sehun find it irritating. He knew that they work with children, so yes, they should try to look happy most of the time. He just didn’t know how Baekhyun had so much energy _ all _the time. He gave Baekhyun a polite nod and smile as he ushered Seungjae into the classroom and closed the door before he could say another word.

“Mr. Byun is _ so _much fun, I wish we got to paint with him everyday!” Seungjae grinned from ear to ear, running off to show his classmates his freshly painted ladybug. 

_ Fun _. He was fun too, Sehun grumbled internally. Hell, anyone could help a bunch of six year olds paint rocks and glue on googly eyes. What was so special about that guy anyway? He was frowning, he could feel it. He smoothed out his furrowed brows with his fingers and told the students to pack up their backpacks. If his mother were here, she would nag him about how he’ll get wrinkles and will never find someone to marry if he kept that grumpy face up. 

After all the students are picked up, he spent about half an hour tidying up the classroom and finishing up the grading he failed to do earlier. Once everything was done, he headed over to Junmyeon’s classroom. He, Junmyeon, and Yixing were having their bi-weekly Friday night out. Their last hang out was canceled since Junmyeon had loads of assignments to grade- another downside to teaching eighth grade- and Yixing was visiting family out of the country. 

Sehun had been looking forward to this night for the past four weeks. He had so much irritation about Baekhyun suppressed he just needed to have a night of ranting to let it all out. Plus, it was his turn to choose where they go and he had been craving ramen. 

His favorite ramen restaurant was packed by the time they got there. He blamed Yixing for this. They could’ve gotten there earlier like Sehun had planned, but Yixing was too busy rearranging the music room even though he could’ve done it at another time. It was about a thirty minute wait for a table and by the time they’re seated, Sehun was just about ready to blow before the waters even came out. 

“So,” Junmyeon sighed, like he knew what was coming. Which he did. He always did by now. “Go on with it then.” 

“I just don’t get why we had to get a new art teacher. What was wrong with Mrs. Jung?” 

“She was like eighty and wanted to retire, that’s what.” 

Sehun knew this of course. Mrs. Jung had been working there for over thirty years already when he had gotten hired. There was one time where she tripped over a backpack and ended up in the hospital for a broken hip. Everyone was sure she wasn’t going to come back. 

Sehun huffed, sinking back in his seat. Not a second later the waiter came with their waters and asked them if they were ready to order. Junmyeon claimed he needed more time to decide even though he ordered the same dish every single time they came. He did it every time thinking he’ll venture out and try something new. He never did. 

“What’s wrong with Baekhyun again?” Yixing looked completely clueless as he sipped his water. “I think he’s nice.”

Yixing thought _ everyone _was nice. Even their last principal who was terribly snobbish and basically hated every living thing. It was annoying sometimes, but they were all used to it by now. 

“He’s just so-” Sehun stopped to make a frustrated noise at the back of his throat, waving his hands in the air for no good reason. “He’s just annoying. I mean he’s just such a suck up. Last week he brought donuts for everyone, remember that? I get that he’s new, so he wants everyone to like him, but he’s just trying _ so hard. _” 

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. “Hasn’t it ever occured to you that he’s _ just nice _? He just always likes to bring in treats, shouldn’t you be happy with free sweets?” 

“It’s not just that. He’s also ...loud. Like all the time. And he talks a lot, like how does someone have that much energy? How’s someone that happy all the time? It’s just so obnoxious and unnecessary.” 

Junmyeon and Yixing exchanged amused looks before turning to the him. “You’re just jealous that all the students love him and give him all the attention now instead of you.” 

Sehun scowled and threw his napkin at Junmyeon. “That’s not true!” He said it a little too loudly just as the waiter came back to take their orders. Sehun quickly shut his mouth and sunk down into his seat, embarrassed. As soon as the waiter walked away he sprung back up and looked at the other teacher with narrowed eyes, his voice hushed this time. “I am _ not _ jealous. He just seems fake, that’s all. I hate people like that. No one’s _ that _nice to everyone for no reason. Even Yixing doesn’t bring in donuts for everyone.” 

The music teacher lightly laughed. “I think he just wants to make friends, that’s all. I mean he’s in a new city, new job. I was actually thinking of asking him to hang out with us sometime. We’re some of the very few male teachers under the age of forty-five at the school. He probably feels lonely.”

He knew Yixing was just trying to be nice. He had always tried to see the best in people, even when they didn’t deserve it. Sehun still wanted to gag at the thought of spending time with Baekhyun outside of work. They just didn’t get it since they don’t have to interact with him as much as he does.

“Yeah Sehun, _ you _should know how hard it is to make friends at a new place. It took you like a whole year to finally warm up to everyone when you first started working here.” 

Yixing nodded. ”Give him a chance, Sehun. Sometimes it takes _ years _for someone to make friends in a new place. What if he just wants friends?”

It really bothered Sehun that his friends were being so rational and reasonable about the whole thing. Yes, he knew he was being immature. No, he still wasn’t going to change his mind.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ October _

The week of Halloween might’ve been Sehun’s favorite time of the entire year. Little princesses and Power Rangers running around was always the most adorable sight. Sometimes, even the staff, usually the lower grade teachers, dressed up and decorated their classrooms with pumpkins and cobwebs. Sooyoung’s second graders absolutely adored her minion costume last year and Haseul’s kindergarteners raved about her Belle costume; they were all so happy to have an actual princess as their teacher. 

Sehun usually didn’t dress up, but this year Junmyeon was throwing a Halloween party after work and he _ insisted _everyone come in a costume. So here he was, in some old stained coveralls he found in a dusty box in the back of his closet and some candle soot on his cheeks. It was as good as a costume anyone was going to get at such last minute.

“What are you supposed to be?” Junmyeon scoffed as he sharpened his bundle of pencils one by one. 

Sehun narrowed his eyes bitterly. “I’m a mechanic, duh.”

“I don’t even think kids know what a mechanic is.” 

“Whatever. At least my idea is original. A police costume, really? You’re so boring.” 

What a petty brat he was being. Junymeon shot him a pointed look under his dark shades and left with his stack of worksheets. Sehun grabbed his spelling test copies and left for class before anyone else could insult his attire. He never understood it when adults were really into dressing up. On his way out of the workroom he collided into another body, his papers spilling onto the dirty ground.

“Damn it.”

“Sorry, should’ve looked where I was going.” 

Byun Baekhyun was dressed in baby blue scrubs and a white lab coat. A stethoscope hung around his neck and he even had a little name tag that read ‘Dr. Byun.’ It irritated Sehun that Baekhyun’s costume looked so professional compared to his lame makeshift ensemble. _ What a try hard. _ He just knew all the other teachers were going to go on and on about how good he looked in his doctor costume all day long. The cherry on top to an already perfect day. 

The art teacher eyed him from held to toe, proceeding to break out into a that irksome grin of his. “Nice costume, Sehun. A mechanic?” 

Okay, so maybe Baekhyun wasn’t a total bonehead. “Yeah, you could tell?” 

“Of course, it’s a good costume.”

“Woah Baek, looking good,” Chaerin whistled as she walked into the work room, tipping her pointy black hat back. She was a witch every single year. It was fitting since she was known amongst the eighth graders as being a diabolical bitch. Their words, not his. She turned to Sehun, brow raised in judgement. “What are you supposed to be? Forget to wash your face this morning?”

“I’m a _ mechanic _. What else would I be?” 

“I don’t know, don’t get mad at me. You’re the one with the lame costume.”

He decided that the eighth graders were right. She really was a diabolical bitch. Her witch costume wasn’t exactly deserving of the ‘Best Costume’ title either. It wasn’t that hard to put on a black dress and a pointy hat. No points for creativity or effort there. 

“Well I think it’s a good costume. It’s original.” Baekhyun’s smile was all teeth as he looked up at him. Stupid perfect white teeth. 

Sehun knew he was being completely irrational, but Baekhyun coming to his rescue almost made him want to hate him even more. He didn’t need someone else to fight his battles for him, let alone his nemesis. Was it still considered a nemesis if the other person didn’t know about their rivalry? He didn’t know, but the title seemed appropriate. 

Chaerin snatched her papers from the copy machine and strut off to class. Good thing she taught the older kids. They needed the discipline and the younger ones would surely burst into tears the moment she stepped into class with that scowl of hers. 

“So,” Baekhyun said, rolling out some white butcher paper. “Are you going to Junmyeon’s Halloween party tonight?” 

“Yeah.” This was the first time they’ve ever had a proper conversation. It felt strange, Sehun thought, fraternising with the enemy. Even if Baekhyun didn’t know _ he _was the enemy.

“I’m going too!” He had about five feet of the butcher paper clumsily rolled up in one hand and a tub of paint bottles in the other, looking in need of some assistance. Sehun didn’t offer any. “This is the first time another teacher invited me to something. I’m pretty excited.” 

“Great,” Sehun said absentmindedly, looking for some fresh packs of pencils on the shelves of supplies. He never knew what the kids did to them, but they go through a pack a week like an addict with cigarettes. “See you there, I guess.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Even though he had said that, Sehun was not actually expecting to see him there. All of Junmyeon’s friends were gushing over how handsome the art teacher looked in his doctor’s attire, making Sehun suddenly regret not changing into a better get-up before he came. Three people had already asked him what he was supposed to be and Minho even tried to wipe off the soot off his face for him. 

“I can’t believe you invited him.” Sehun tapped his fingers on the cup of cider impatiently, letting the exasperation brew in the space where his heart should be. “You know I don’t like him.” 

Junmyeon’s cheeks were already flushed from the beer he had earlier. Now he was wearing a big puffy green suit around his torso with a single eyeball in the middle, a disturbing smiling mouth south of it. His husband, Kris, didn’t look too happy to be in his bulky, furry suit. It was probably the worst Sully and Mike couples costume Sehun had ever seen. Even worse that those couples who simply wear t-shirts with the characters’ faces on them and called it a costume. Junmyeon had insisted on DIYing it all himself, despite Sehun telling him _ many _times that he should’ve just bought the damn thing. Kris was shedding teal hair everywhere he went and his tail was knocking up against everyone and everything. As if he wasn’t already clumsy enough, they just had to add a massive, fluffy log on his ass. 

With an amused chuckle, Junmyeon patted Sehun’s shoulder like he would an upset child. “I invited everyone from work, lighten up will you? You don’t even need to talk to him, just act like he’s not even here.” 

It was a bit difficult _ not _ to notice Baekhyun being that Junmyeon’s house had an open floor plan and the art teacher was smack dab in the middle of the living room for everyone to see. Junmyeon’s friends _ adored _ Baekhyun only after thirty minutes of talking to him, laughing at all his jokes and putting their arms around his shoulders like they’ve known each other forever. It took _ weeks _for them to actually consider Sehun a friend and not just Junmyeon’s quiet coworker he brought everywhere. It just wasn’t fair. His jokes weren’t even all that funny. Sehun bet that if everyone was sober they wouldn’t have been laughing nearly as hard. 

Baekhyun’s laugh was like a sharp crack of thunder. Boisterous, unruly almost. He’d never seen anyone laugh like that before in his life. It sounded theatrical, like a character from a sitcom. And not even a good one like _ Friends _ or _ The Fresh Prince of Bel Air _ . Baekhyun stopped laughing once he made eye contact with Sehun from across the room. A smile spread across his face as he waved to him. Sehun quickly looked away, pretending not to see him. It was a total dick move. He just didn’t have the energy to act cordial tonight. When he glanced back, the art teacher was no longer looking his way. Sehun felt an angry vein bulging from his forehead as he watched Yixing offer Baekhyun a pumpkin shaped sugar cookie. _ Traitor _.

  
  
  


_ November _

  
  


“So…” Something was off. Junmyeon sounded nervous, which made Sehun nervous. “I was thinking about inviting Baekhyun to our Friendsgiving dinner.” 

Sehun’s favorite red correcting pen fell from his hand and Yixing anxiously looked at the two of them. “Yeah, right,” he scoffed, waiting for him to laugh say ‘just kidding!’ He didn’t. “You’re joking, right. Please tell me you’re joking.” 

He looked to the music teacher for help, who quickly avoided eye contact by staring out at the street. Junmyeon sighed. “Look, I was talking to him the other day and he told me he didn’t have any plans at all for Thanksgiving. Not even dinner with friends or family, said he was just order take-out and eat alone at home.” 

Huh. It was borderline evil of him for thinking so, but the image of oh-so-popular Byun Baekhyun eating alone in front of his TV like a loser almost made Sehun feel better inside. He suppressed the smile threatening at his lips. It was comforting to know that Baekhyun wasn’t all that superior to him after all. And besides, it just sounded like a cry for attention if you asked him. 

“I mean, that sucks for _ him _. It doesn’t mean we’re responsible for anything. Friendsgiving dinner is just supposed to be close friends. We barely know him!” 

“Have a heart, Sehun,” Yixing said softly. “It’s just one dinner.” 

“Easy for you to say since you guys are practically _ best friends _. How could you guys abandon me for him?” 

“Stop being dramatic, Sehun. No one’s _ abandoning _you. We just don't want him to be all alone during the holidays, is all.” 

Sehun thought his objection was perfectly justified. Thanksgiving dinner had always consisted of Junmyeon, Kris, Yixing, Minseok, Tao, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and him. It was a sacred tradition and even Tao wasn’t allowed to bring his girlfriend of three months last Thanksgiving. Kyungsoo had said that if anyone wanted to bring a date they would have to prove they were in a life long committed relationship that wouldn’t end in a break-up that would leave everyone feeling awkward. Sehun just knew Tao was going to have a fit over the fact that some stranger got invited and his girlfriend wasn’t. And he would have to agree, it wasn’t fair. Sehun would much rather sit across Tao’s girlfriend, even if she was a bit of an airhead and hard to talk to sometimes, than to sit across Baekhyun all night. 

“Well, we have to vote on it first.” There was no way Kyungsoo and Tao would allow it. 

“I already explained the situation to everyone and they all said it was fine. So it’s just you and majority rules. Sorry, Sehun.” 

Junmyeon didn’t look all too sorry. Sehun resisted the urge to break his pen. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sehun spent the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving vacation avoiding Baekhyun around school as much as possible. If he was going to have to spend a whole dinner with him, he was going to have to save all of his energy for that instead of wasting it on fake smiles and courtious small talk in the teachers’ lounge. On the last day of school before break, Baekhyun had brought in adorable little cupcakes decorated in brown sprinkles and candy corn tail feathers to look like turkeys for all the teachers and staff. Sehun refused to eat one even though they were chocolate, his favorite. 

Junmyeon’s house was already smelling of turkey and sweet potato pie when Sehun got there in the morning. Kyungsoo and Minseok were in the kitchen cooking up a storm, Minseok preparing his balsamic-roasted brussels sprouts and Kyungsoo viciously mashing potatoes into submission. Even though it was Junmyeon and Kris’s house, the two homeowners were both banned from the kitchen on Thanksgiving after the whole oven fire fiasco six years ago. Kris barely knew how to fry an egg and Junmyeon wasn’t exactly a renowned chef. 

Sehun set the bottles of sparkling wine Kyungsoo asked him to buy on his way there on the kitchen counter before taking a seat next to Yixing on the couch. “So what time is _ he _supposed to get here?” 

“I don’t know. I think Junmyeon told him six?”

He had half a mind to fake a stomach ache to leave before dinner, but one sniff of Kyungsoo’s famous turkey and his mouth was already watering. 

Yixing placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. “How’re you feeling?” 

He shrugged. “Like it’s the end of the world.” 

He hissed in pain, his hand immediately flying up to the imaginary bump when he was swatted in the back of the head with a wooden spoon. “_ Jesus, _hyung. That hurt.” 

“Stop being so melodramatic, you brat. You’re a grown man and it’s just dinner,” Minseok tutted. “How would you like it if you had to spend the holidays alone?”

“Tell me why you don’t like him again?” Kyungsoo piped up from the kitchen. 

The more he got asked that question the more he realized he didn’t even have a good answer, which was just plain embarrassing. It still didn’t stop him from vocalizing his distaste. “Because he’s annoying.” 

“What are you, thirteen?” 

The rest of the gang arrived around five thirty. Despite Junmyeon saying that everyone agreed to letting Baekhyun come to dinner, Tao went on a whole tirade about how it was unfair that his girlfriend didn’t get to come last year. 

“You guys literally broke up the next month,” Jongdae said. “You were only dating her ‘cause she was hot, don’t even try to make us feel bad.” 

By the time Baekhyun showed up on the front porch with a handful of desserts at six o’clock, Tao was no longer sulking. Baekhyun greeted everyone enthusiastically as he stepped inside. A little _ too _enthusiastically, Sehun might add. He mentally gagged. 

“Baekhyun, this Tao and Jongdae. Kyungsoo, aka the chef for tonight, is over there in the kitchen with Minseok, Jongdae’s husband. My husband, Kris, is somewhere around here.”

The art teacher tried waved to Kyungsoo and Minseok in the kitchen, even with his hands full. 

“You didn’t have to bring all this, Baek. You’re our guest.” 

Baekhyun shook his head and waved his hand dismissively after Junmyeon took the pies and cookies from him. “I wanted to, as a thank you for inviting me.” 

“Where you always get all these sweets from anyway?” Yixing asked as he looked through the cutely decorated sugar cookies. 

“My landlady owns a bakery next to my apartment. She’s always giving me discounts.”

_ Oh great. Do you suck up to her too? _Sehun’s smile was strained and tight-lipped when Baekhyun greeted him. He was wearing a very large and thick brick red coat, which matched the apples of his cheeks and the tip of his nose. His fluffy caramel hair was peeking out from underneath his firetruck red knit beanie. It must’ve been really cold outside. Underneath his coat was a cream knit sweater that had to be at least two sizes too big for him. Sehun had never seen him look so...little before. It looked like he could just pick him up and put him in his pocket. 

“Dinner’s gonna be ready soon. Everyone come take a seat at the table,” Kyungsoo announced. 

Junmyeon had promised Sehun he wouldn’t have to sit next to Baekhyun, but he didn’t say anything about having to sit across from him. The art teacher smiled at him from across the table through the candlesticks and the autumnal centerpieces. Sehun would have much rather sat next to him than _ this _. At least then he wouldn’t have had to avoid making awkward eye contact with him all night. 

Jongdae quickly took a liking to Baekhyun, which wasn’t surprising since they were both extremely loud and chatty. What did surprise Sehun was the fact that Kyungsoo was laughing at all of the art teacher’s jokes. Like genuinely laughing, not those fake laughs he did at office parties when his drunk bosses were making stupid and borderline offensive comments. Out of everyone, Sehun was at least counting on Kyungsoo to have his back about how irritating Baekhyun was. 

Sehun was cutting his turkey so roughly, annoyed as he listened to Baekhyun tell a funny story about something the kids did in class, that Kris had to lean over and tell him to cool it before Junmyeon killed him for scratching their nice plates. 

“So Baek, you didn’t go visit your family for Thanksgiving or anything?” Jongdae asked, shoving a mouthful of creamy mashed potatoes into his mouth. 

For the first time since Sehun’s known him, Baekhyun’s smile faltered. He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat uncomfortably and pushed around his brussels sprouts with his fork. “Oh, I’m uh- not that close with my family.” 

Everyone took that as a sign to change the subject and Tao began to tell everyone about his new girlfriend, who he insisted he wasn’t just dating for her looks. Sehun couldn’t help but notice how quiet Baekhyun was being now. The art teacher was still politely laughing and smiling at everyone’s stories, but there was something off. His smile was strained, forced. And when Sehun looked closely, he could see a distant sad look in his eyes. _ How strange _. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sehun never would’ve thought that silence could be so distracting. Sure, a chatty Baekhyun bothered him. But something about a silent Baekhyun almost bothered him even more. What was wrong with him anyway? 

After dinner Kris suggested they put on a nice Thanksgiving movie. Tao claimed that there were no good Thanksgiving movies, so they should just go straight to Christmas instead. No one objected because who doesn’t like a good ol’ Christmas film?

Jongdae, Tao, and Kris argued over what movie to watch for about half an hour, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon took that time to start washing the dishes so they wouldn’t have to worry about it later. Yixing was half asleep from a food coma on the couch and Minseok was still working on his third slice of sweet potato pie at the dining table. 

“Oh hey Sehun, did you remember to bring that book I asked to borrow?” Minseok asked. 

“Oh right, it’s in the car. Let me go get it.” 

He opened the front door to reveal a red lump sitting on the front steps of the porch. It took him a whole five seconds to realize it was Baekhyun. Sehun could hear hushed sniffling sounds coming from him. Oh god, this was awkward. He was horrible with dealing with these kinds of things. Last year when Tao called him crying after he broke up with his girlfriend, all Sehun could say was _ ‘damn...that sucks. are you okay? _’ He wondered if he should just pretend he didn’t see anything and slip back inside before Baekhyun noticed him. 

“Oh, hey. Sorry for blocking the way,” the art teacher said, quickly scooting over and not-so-subtly wiping his face with his coat sleeve. 

Too late to back out now, Sehun supposed. He stood there awkwardly, his arms hanging at his sides, not knowing what to say or do. Should he just not say anything and go to his car like he intended? Should he be a decent person and ask him what was wrong? He groaned internally when his conscience told him to do the latter. 

“Are you uh- alright?” _ Jesus, _was this unbearable. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all. It wasn’t like they were even friends anyway. Baekhyun would probably much rather vent to Yixing or Junmyeon than him. 

Baekhyun’s nose and cheeks were red again, although Sehun wasn’t sure if it was from the crying or the cold. “Yeah.”

After a never ending whole minute of uncomfortable silence, he spoke up again. “I just miss my family, that’s all.”

Sehun wasn’t sure if he wanted to open that can of worms. Family matters were always messy. This was leading into dangerous and emotional territory that he was not adept at to handle. Especially since it was Byun Baekhyun, probably his least favorite person in the world. Even though Sehun had admitted he was almost giddy to imagine a miserable Baekhyun, this was just painful to watch. 

“Why don’t you go see them?” 

Baekhyun tensed up and for a moment, Sehun really wished his parents weren’t dead or this would be ten times more uncomfortable. 

The art teacher sniffled a few more times and rubbed his rosy nose with his arm. “They don’t want anything to do with me.” 

His voice was so quiet, barely audible over the festive Christmas music coming from inside the house. Someone must have had let Junmyeon get ahold of his Michael Buble Christmas CD again. Sehun knew he was going to regret it, but he still took a seat next on the steps next to him, leaving a good six inches between them. “Do you... want to talk about it?” 

Baekhyun looked somewhat surprised that Sehun even offered to listen. He hesitated while staring out into the dark, empty street and Sehun was already starting to regret all of his actions in the past five minutes. Was it too late to say ‘nevermind’, go back inside, and act like nothing ever happened?

“Last Christmas someone outed me to my family and my parents told me they couldn’t accept the fact that their son was gay. They told me to never speak to them unless I decided to snap out of it. It’s why I had to move here, to get a new place and a new job and everything. I didn't even know anyone here, but I lived in a small town and word got around and I knew I just had to leave.”

His voice was shaky. Sehun could see the tears welling up in eyes and he thought about tagging in Junmyeon or Yixing to come out here instead because he had no idea what to do. “Oh.”

“Yeah...Sorry for crying. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood of the party or anything...It’s just that this is the first holiday where I usually spend with my family that I was alone. ”

_ Jesus _ , what was Sehun supposed to say to that? Now he just felt like a complete asshole for not wanting him there in the first place. His parents had always been so supportive of his past boyfriends. So were Junmyeon and Kris’s. He never had to deal with parents like _ that _ . “Well, you aren’t _ alone _.” 

The corners of Baekhyun’s lips finally pulled up into a smile again, which strangely made Sehun feel better because he _ really _did not know how to deal with crying people. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m really grateful for you guys for inviting me. You guys are so nice.” 

The guilt weighed heavily on Sehun’s shoulders. Baekhyun should really be thanking Junmyeon since Sehun literally fought for him not to be there. He had spent months and months hating him ever since he was hired and now Baekhyun was thanking him for being a nice person. Was he an asshole or what? 

  
  
  
  
  


_ December _

Bright twinkling lights hanging from every roof, every tree, on every corner. Three feet of snow on the ground. Coffee shops and cafes packed with people trying to stay out of the biting winter air. This was Sehun’s second favorite time of the year after Halloween. 

Yesterday was the last day of school before winter break. Sehun had bought little winter themed goodie bags filled with candy canes, Santa Claus erasers, and red and green m&ms for his students. Baekhyun had all of the first and second grade classes make Christmas trees and snowmen out of construction paper to hang up in the halls and classrooms. There was green and red glitter all over the floor of the entire school. Sehun felt bad for the janitors. It was going to take forever to get all that cleaned up. 

The table in the teachers’ lounge was filled with winter themed cookies and cupcakes, courtesy of Baekhyun of course. Sehun actually ate one this time, a chocolate cupcake with a pile of green buttercream frosting shaped as a Chrstimas tree on top. It was the best cupcake he ever had. 

After the whole Thanksgiving dinner incident, he was expecting it to be awkward between Baekhyun and him. He would sure feel pretty damn embarrassed if he cried in front of a coworker he barely spoke to. However, Baekhyun didn’t seem to feel the same way. In fact, it made him act even more friendly around Sehun if that was even possible. 

Sehun should’ve been annoyed, but he wasn’t. His tolerance for Baekhyun was a lot higher now. He didn’t know if he considered them _ friends, _even though that was most definitely how Baekhyun thought of them, but he didn't dislike him nearly as much as he did before. The poor guy was disowned by his parents and had no friends in a new city for god’s sake. Sehun wasn’t completely heartless, even if it did seem that way. 

He even agreed to let the art teacher come to their Christmas party without a single protest. Junmyeon and Yixing nearly choked on their food from shock. 

“Since when did you stop hating Baekhyun?”

Sehun shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just not a big deal, okay? You guys were right, he’s probably lonely being in a new place and job and I feel bad for him. You can invite him if you want.”

Yixing eyed him curiously. “Why the sudden change of heart? You couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him before.” 

“I just changed my mind. Do you want to invite him or not?” He hadn’t told them about their little talk. It felt wrong telling people about Baekhyun’s personal business. What if he didn’t want anyone else to know and he just told him due to a sudden lapse in judgement? 

The two looked at each other and shrugged. “Okay I’ll ask him tomorrow.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


They allowed Tao to bring his new girlfriend to the Christmas party this year. It was going to be the first time they met her and they all really hoped she was more interesting than the last one. Junmyeon made a group chat for everyone coming and announced that the dress code was ugly Christmas sweaters _ only _. He made it a point that if anyone showed up at his front door without one, they wouldn’t be allowed in until they picked one from his mortifyingly vast collection. Baekhyun and Jongdae spammed the chat with so many emoticons and excited messages that Sehun had to put it on mute. 

Minseok and Jongdae invited him to come over to their place to decorate some Christmas sweaters since Yixing was already planning on coming over. The couple decided on matching sweaters, of course. Minseok’s said ‘I’ve been nice’ and Jongdae’s said ‘I’ve been naughty.’ Jongdae made some very suggestive comments about how he had been naughty and perhaps needed a punishment from Minseok while decorating his sweater. Sehun almost threw up his dinner and Yixing pretended not to hear anything. 

For his own sweater, Sehun decided to go the easy route and simply hot glue some green tinsel garland in the shape of a tree onto the front. It was a good thing the theme was ugly Christmas sweater because boy, was this thing _ ugly _. 

When they arrived at the couple’s house on Christmas Eve they were practically blinded by the amount of lights and decorations outside. They had the whole Santa on his sleigh being pulled by reindeer scene, all in lights atop their roof and countless light up elves and snowmen on their lawn. Their electricity bill must have been through the roof. 

“Don’t they look nice?” Junmyeon looked up at his house proudly, his hands on his hips. “I made Kris put it all up a couple weeks ago.” 

Minseok chuckled, “Poor Kris.”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were already sitting on the couch with mugs of hot chocolate when they came inside. Kyungsoo was wearing his usual ‘Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal’ sweater and Baekhyun was wearing an oversized sweater again. A candy apple red one this time, with little plastic presents and green bows glued all over it. It went all the way down to his thighs and the sleeves fell past his hands, hiding them. He was practically swimming in it. Sehun couldn’t help but find it somewhat cute, not that he would ever admit it to anyone out loud. Especially Baekhyun. It was already mortifying enough admitting it to himself.

“Hey Sehun, I brought some more of those chocolate cupcakes. The ones with the Christmas tree frosting. You liked them a lot, right?” 

He wasn’t even sure how Baekhyun knew that, he never said anything to him. “Oh. Yeah I do, thanks.” 

Dinner was much less uncomfortable than Thanksgiving. Sehun had to sit across from Baekhyun again, only he didn’t mind it this time. Most of the time was spent on getting to know Tao’s new girlfriend. They were all glad she was a lot easier to talk to than his ex.

Usually around eight, after dinner, they would exchange their secret santa gifts, but this year they decided against doing it since Baekhyun was coming and they didn’t want to go through the stress of trying to get a gift for someone he didn’t know that well. Kyungsoo suggested they put on _ Home Alone _instead. Yixing, Minseok, and Jongdae all fall asleep within fifteen minutes, resulting in Kyungsoo angrily grumbling about how they had no respect for a classic. 

Tao and his girlfriend were starting to makeout next to him, prompting him to get up and escape to the kitchen where the chocolate cupcakes were. After shoving a whole one into his mouth, he heard the shuffling of feet on the floor and turned to see Baekhyun staring at him with an amused expression. 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying them so much.”

Sehun painfully swallowed the ball of chocolate in his mouth, ashamed. “I like chocolate.”

“I can tell.” 

They both hopped up and took a seat on top of the counter and Sehun handed him a cupcake before grabbing his fifth one of the night. He hoped Junmyeon wouldn’t see them or else they’d get an earful about sitting on his new marble countertop. He wasn’t sure what it was, but there was something strangely satisfying about sitting on kitchen counters. 

“Nice sweater.”

Baekhyun looked down at his sweater, then at Sehun’s. “Thanks. Yours is nice too.”

He chuckled, “You don’t have to be nice, mine is pretty bad. I made it in like ten minutes.”

“The kids actually helped me make this one. Seungjae from your class was really excited to pick out all the decorations for it.” 

Sehun knew he shouldn’t have favorites, but if he _ had _to pick one, Seungjae would most definitely be his favorite. The little boy was always so enthusiastic about school, which wasn’t always the case with students. He laughed lightly to himself imagining the boy eagerly gathering supplies for the art teacher’s sweater. “I bet. He’s so cute, he’s always so excited.”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up, his whole face did as his lips spread into a wide grin. “I know right? I love having him in class so much, I always wish I could adopt him! That’s like all I want in life.”

“To adopt Seungjae?” 

“No,” Baekhyun chuckled, looking down at his swinging feet. “Well, I mean I wouldn’t be against it, but I meant to have a kid. I can’t wait to pick my kids up from school and have fresh baked cookies at home waiting for them, you know? Even though I can’t really bake or cook for the life of me. It’s the thought that counts.”

Sehun looked at the smiling art teacher and nodded. He did know, he had always wanted kids too. He was pretty disappointed when Junmyeon and Kris said they weren’t going to adopt. Junmyeon decided that being around kids all the time was enough for him and that he didn’t need to come home to any more. Jongdae and Minseok never wanted children of their own either even though they liked them. Most of Sehun’s friends didn’t understand his love for children. It was nice to talk to someone who did. 

“You’d have to fight me for Seungjae.” 

Baekhyun found that pretty funny. He laughed that loud laugh Sehun used to dislike so much as he playfully hit his arm. It didn’t bother Sehun that much anymore and as the art teacher’s hands lightly grazed against the side of his thigh, he suddenly became very aware of how close they were sitting. 

This was the first time he was able to look at Baekhyun from such a close distance, their faces only a few inches apart. His eyes subconsciously dropped to Baekhyun’s mouth for the quickest second. He had a little mole on the top right corner of his pink lips. Sehun had spent so much time avoiding him he never even noticed how..._ pretty _ the art teacher was. Baekhyun was very appealing to look at now he was paying attention instead of just staring at him angrily from a distance. Deep down in the darkest corner of his mind, Sehun always knew this. He just never wanted to admit it and give Baekhyun another reason to be better than him. Trying not to let this fact get under his more than it already did, he tore his eyes away before Baekhyun noticed where he was staring. 

“What?” Baekhyun asked. “Is there something on my face?”

Sehun’s eyes zeroed in on his pout instinctively. “Uh yeah, just a crumb or something.” There was no crumb. “Hey, how did you know I liked these cupcakes?” 

Baekhyun shrugged, his feet kicking in the air off the edge of the counter. “You looked really happy while you were eating it at school. I just figured that meant you liked them.”

As he smiled up at him, Sehun came to the startling realization that he, in fact, did not hate Byun Baekhyun. Not even in the slightest. 

  
  
  
  
  


_ January _

When Sehun got a mass email about starting off the new year with a staff bonding night, he was expecting dinner or going out for drinks. Not karaoke. The last thing he wanted to do on a Friday night was to listen to his tone deaf, intoxicated co-workers singing Adele songs at the top of their lungs. Yet here he was, sandwiched between a drunk Joohyun and an even drunker Yuri as they took turns singing along to a Britney Spears song. 

Junmyeon was sitting in the corner hugging his beer, mouthing along to the lyrics and Yixing was asleep on his shoulder. Sehun hadn’t even gotten a chance to sing yet, not that he wanted to. He wondered why he even came in the first place, he didn’t even like drinking that much. 

“Do you wanna sing something, Sehun?” 

Yuri’s beer breath is close to intolerable. He politely shook his head and hoped she would move onto her next target, which just happened to be Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun also kindly refused Yuri’s offer of the microphone and suggested giving it to Junmyeon instead since he had been mouthing along to all the songs. After downing the rest of his beer, he sprung up to his feet and began giving a passionate, and clumsy, performance to “Chandelier.” Sehun was cracking up the entire time, even took out his phone to record a video. He was definitely going to be using it as blackmail material one day. Even Baekhyun was roaring with laughter,_ falling-to-the-floor _ laughter. 

Baekhyun was all teeth when he laughed. All teeth and crescent eyes that curved until you couldn’t see them anymore. It was a nice laugh, Sehun admitted. He couldn’t for the life of him remember why he ever thought it was irritating. It certainly didn’t bother him now. In fact, he found himself occasionally stealing glances at Baekhyun while he wasn’t looking. He was so used to being able to speak to him alone, somewhere quiet when they were somewhere outside of work. It felt strange being across the room from him like this. There was an itching feeling underneath Sehun’s skin, like he wanted Baekhyun’s attention but he wasn’t quite sure why.

After three more badly sung songs, Baekhyun finally excused himself to go to the restroom. Sehun watched him leave the room before excusing himself as well without even a second thought. He found the art teacher sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the wall right outside the door of the room. The flush on Baekhyun’s cheeks was so much more visible under the bright fluorescent lights. They were like two perfectly ripe peaches. 

“Hey.”

“Oh hey, Sehun.”

He scooted over when Sehun bent down to take a seat next to him. “What are you doing out here?” 

“I just needed some fresh air. It was getting so loud and stuffy in there. Did you see how clingy Haseul was being? I was starting to feel claustrophobic. Jeez, she’s a touchy drunk.”

Sehun chuckled. “Speaking of drunk, you’re a lightweight, aren’t you?” 

“How did you know?” Baekhyun pouted. 

“You only had, like, half of your drink and you already look like you’re about to knock out. And hard lemonade barely counts as a drink.”

“I do not,” he playfully scoffed. “I’ve just always been bad at drinking, plus it tastes gross.”

They were sitting so close that their arms were touching and Sehun could feel the heat radiating off Baekhyun’s body. His hand was only an inch away from his own. Pretty, slender fingers of which he had a habit of biting whenever he was thinking or spacing out. Sehun had noticed it about a month ago during a staff meeting. Baekhyun was staring intently at the presentation while biting on the tips of his index and middle finger. Sometimes his thumb, which had a mole on it that Sehun found very fascinating at times. 

Before he even realized what he was doing, his hand was reaching for Baekhyun’s, carefully like it was a precious stone. He gently skimmed over the mole on his thumb with his own thumb. Baekhyun tilted his head in curiosity, but didn’t pull his hand away. “What is it?” 

Sehun shook his head. “Nothing.”

“You’re acting weird,” Baekhyun giggled. “Are you drunk?” 

“Yeah.” 

He really had no good reason for lying. He hadn’t had a single sip of alcohol that night. He studied Baekhyun’s face and took notice of more moles sprinkled throughout his face like miniscule chocolate chips. Two on the left side of his nose. One on his right cheek. Another on his right temple. If he looked even closer he could make out the one on his chin. There was even one peeking out from his sweater near his collarbone. Sehun wondered if he had anymore he couldn’t see. He wanted to play connect the dots with them. 

Baekhyun lightly chuckled when Sehun continued to stare at him. “Are you alright? Think you need to go home?” 

Sehun ignored his question and lifted a hand to point at the faint dot on the top right corner of his lips. “This one.” 

“What?”

“This one’s my favorite.” Sehun wasn’t sure what he was saying anymore. His mouth had a mind of its own at this point. Perhaps all the horrible singing and beer breath was driving him to insanity. 

Baekhyun giggled once again, his eyes curving into little crescents and his teeth were on full display. The sound made Sehun grin. “What are you talking about, Sehun?” 

Sehun didn’t even realize he was leaning in until the tips of their noses were touching. Baekhyun’s smile disappeared and his droopy chocolate eyes were as wide as saucers. His lips slightly parted in surprise when he slowly closed the distance between them. It was a huge risk. Sehun knew this. There was a good chance Baekhyun would push him off and it would be awkward between them for the rest of their lives. Sehun was very aware of that possibility, so he really shouldn’t have leaned in, yet he did. And he didn’t know why. He had been making all sorts of dumb and irrational decisions lately. He never even knew he wanted to kiss Baekhyun until recently. It wasn’t like in the movies where he suddenly realized the love of his life was right next to him the whole time. 

No, Sehun did not love Baekhyun. He just really wanted to kiss him. He had been thinking about it ever since their Christmas party when he noticed the mole on the top right corner of his mouth, which was a very long period of time to think about just one thing. He still didn’t know exactly _ why _he was so drawn to Baekhyun’s pretty lips; he just was. Something about that little mole was incredibly inviting. 

It was a pleasant surprise and much to his relief when Baekhyun didn’t pull away nor shove him off. He wouldn’t have known what to do if that were to happen. He most likely would’ve blamed it on all the imaginary drinks he had that night. 

Baekhyun’s lips were inconceivably soft and tasted of strawberry lemonade with a hint of chocolate from the cake he had earlier. Sehun loved chocolate. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he had tried to imagine what this moment would be like many times in the past couple of weeks. What Baekhyun’s lips would feel like. What they would taste like. And now that the moment was finally here, Sehun came to conclusion that it was better than anything he imagined. However, it was short lived when the door suddenly swung open and the two teachers detached themselves as fast as humanly possible as if nothing ever happened. 

“Hey! Baek, there you are! Come and watch Chaerin sing, it’s fucking _ hiliarious _.”

Baekhyun’s cheeks were even rosier than before as he quickly scrambled up on his feet. “Yeah, okay. Sure. Coming,” he stammered. 

Not even a single glance back at Sehun before he hurried into the room with the rest of their colleagues. It wasn’t until he sat there, alone, in silence for two minutes that it dawned on Sehun what he’d actually done and the gravity of the whole situation. 

“_ Oh my fucking god,” _ he groaned, burying his face into his palms. _ Why did I do that? _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The weekend leading up to that following Monday was the longest 48 hours of his life. Baekhyun had his number, but he hadn’t even tried contacting Sehun the whole weekend. Sehun took that as a sign that what he did was most definitely a mistake. He had Baekhyun’s number, but what was he supposed to say? _ ‘Hey remember when I kissed you? Yeah that was an accident. It didn’t mean anything’ _ or _ ‘hey did you like that kiss because I did.’ _

Neither were a viable option. In fact, Sehun wanted to dig a hole and throw himself in it just thinking about Baekhyun’s potential replies. Who knew someone could make such a horrible decision completely sober. He thought about calling Junmyeon and Yixing to ask for advice, but then he realized they would probably just have a million questions about why he no longer hated Baekhyun. He really didn’t feel like having that conversation yet. 

Early Monday morning Sehun pulled up to the staff parking lot a whole hour earlier than he usually came knowing very well that Baekhyun also came that early everyday. The art teacher’s black Prius with a bumper sticker that read ‘make art not war’ on the back windshield was already parked in its usual spot. Sehun sat in the car with the radio blasting his eardrums out for ten minutes gathering up the courage to face Baekhyun. 

There were scraps of craft paper, all different colors and sizes, scattered on the floor the art classroom. Sehun found the art teacher sitting on the floor next to the blue recycling bin cutting out what seemed to be flower petals in all sorts of colors. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration. Sehun couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the sight. He had never seen him so serious before.

Baekhyun turned around upon hearing the sound. The lovely shade of pink instantly blooming across his cheeks when he saw him does not go unnoticed. “Oh. Hi, Sehun.”

“What uh, are you working on?” 

Baekhyun refused to meet his gaze, which was understandable, yet still made him feel like even more of a loser. “They’re supposed to be petals. I’m gonna have the kids make color wheel flowers today.”

“Oh, that’s cool.” 

The torturous silence that followed seemed to be never ending. It stretched and stretched until Sehun finally had enough and had to say something, _ anything _. “Baekhyun...I’m sorry about Friday. I was really...drunk. I didn’t mean to make things awkward between us.”

The art teacher froze, his shoulders tensing up. “Oh uhm, that’s okay. I was pretty buzzed too…” 

Sehun waited for him to go on and when he didn’t, he said, “So are we good? We’re still friends...right?” And he really meant that. He finally got to know him, throwing it all away just because of a stupid mistake would be such a waste. 

The bright grin on Baekhyun’s face when he finally looked up at him was enough to make Sehun melt a little inside. “Of course we’re still friends.” 

Just one look those shining eyes and he knew there was a good chance he could never be just _ friends _with Byun Baekhyun. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Staff meetings were a very important, yet very dull part of their job. Sehun had always particularly dreaded them since it meant he would have to be in the same room as Baekhyun. Now, however, he dreaded them for an entirely different reason. 

This meeting was about the upcoming Valentine’s Day fundraiser for new sports equipment for the eighth graders. Or new instruments for the music class. Or was it new school sweaters and t-shirts for the students? Sehun wasn’t quite sure; he was not giving the principal his undivided attention as he should’ve been. In his defense, it wasn’t really his fault. It was Baekhyun’s.

Baekhyun and his excruciatingly distracting habit of biting his thumb when he was concentrating. His left thumb with that adorable little mole. Sehun’s _ favorite _thumb. Sehun had never found Baekhyun’s little habit all too distracting, but now it always seemed to draw Sehun’s attention to the thing that had been on his mind since karaoke night. 

It was vexing, to say the least. It was almost as if Baekhyun was doing it on purpose, to taunt him. Sehun tried to keep his focus on the principal. He really did. But every now and then, his eyes would slowly wander back to the art teacher’s mouth. 

He caught himself gnawing on his bottom lip, his gaze fixed on Baekhyun’s lovely pink mouth. He felt like a total creep. Not enough to look away, it seemed. Eventually the art teacher noticed the eyes on him and looked his way. The blush that spread across his face when their eyes met did not go unnoticed by Sehun. Baekhyun immediately pulled his thumb from his mouth and looked away, a bashful expression on his face. Sehun took this as his cue to also turn back to the principal. 

It was an unfair move, Sehun thought. They both agreed to be friends. Just friends, Baekhyun had implied. _ Friends _weren’t supposed to look like they’re just waiting for you to come up and kiss them. And besides, Sehun was perfectly fine with being just friends. He just wanted to make out with him, that’s all. Just a friendly, harmless, platonic makeout. Those were a thing that friends did, right? 

“So who wants to volunteer to be in charge of the fundraiser?” the principal asked, looking around expectantly. 

Baekhyun was quick to raise his hand, looking quite excited. Before he knew it, Sehun’s arm was shooting up and the art teacher looked at him, startled. Upon seeing Junmyeon and Yixing’s surprised expressions, Sehun instantly regretted it. 

“Oh well, I was only expecting one person, but the more the merrier. Sehun and Baekhyun you guys can work on it together.” 

“Okay,” Baekhyun shyly smiled. 

Sehun nodded, bringing a hand up to his mouth to hide his grin. 

  
  
  
  


_ February _

Sehun had always hated Valentine’s Day ever since he was young. Parents being forced to buy cheap candy and stupid Valentine’s cards for their children to bring in for everyone in the class. People feeling pressured to buy useless impractical heart shaped gifts for their partners. It was a holiday companies forced upon the public to trick them into spending loads of money. His friends always called him a cynic and they were right. Maybe it was the reason why he was still single. 

He really shouldn’t have volunteered to work on the Valentine’s Day fundraiser being that he despised the holiday. It was a horrible decision on his part, but one that he couldn’t exactly back out from after Baekhyun approached him with an excited smile and tons of ideas. 

On the bright side, it gave them the chance to spend more time together outside of school. Sure, it was still technically work, but Sehun enjoyed having an excuse to talk to Baekhyun more. It sure beat coming to work early every morning just to try to catch the art teacher alone in his classroom before all the students came. Or pretending to look for something in the work room just so he could have a chance to talk to him for a bit during recesses. A lot less pathetic too. At least that’s what Sehun tried to tell himself_ . _Something inside him was just always itching to see Baekhyun. In the most friendly way possible, of course. 

There were red and pink construction paper hearts and posters for the fundraiser taped up all over the walls of the school put up by their one and only art teacher. Sehun, Baekhyun, and Yixing had been eating lunch together everyday; sometimes it was just the two of them when Yixing had work to do. No offense to Yixing, but Sehun enjoyed those days the most. Yixing always sat between the two of them and it always made him feel jittery like he had to fight for Baekhyun’s attention. It was the strangest feeling, wanting his attention. Especially because Sehun had put so much energy into trying _ not _to get any from him for so long.

For the past couple of weeks the art teacher had been working hard on all the heart-shaped decorations and posters during their lunches. Sehun helped him cut a few dozens of hearts, though they never looked nearly as good as Baekhyun’s. 

“I love Valentine’s Day, it’s all just so...romantic and fun.” 

He and Baekhyun were hanging up some more decorations in the hallways. Sehun had never met anyone who loved the holiday as much as Baekhyun did. Then again, Baekhyun loved just about every holiday. Even Arbor Day. “Yeah, it’s great.” 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at him, chuckling. “You don’t have to lie, Sehun. I know you don’t like it.” 

He never understood how Baekhyun knew all these things without him saying anything. “How do you even know that?” 

Baekhyun shrugged, “Because you always look _ super _uninterested whenever anyone talks about it.”

“I just never really saw the point of it, I guess.” 

The art teacher laughed lightly as he stood up on the tips of toes to place two pieces of tape on the corners of the poster that read ‘send a candy gram to a friend!’ He did this often, especially in the workroom when he had to get new bottles of paint from the top shelf. Sehun found it oh-so adorable; sometimes he wouldn’t even offer help just to watch him struggle for a bit. It was rather creepy and cruel now that he thought about it. God, did he need help?

“I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to go to this Valentine’s thing at this cafe by my place, but then I saw how much you disliked it.”

Sehun practically _ felt _the wave of disappointment wash over him. He was completely drenched in it from head to toe like a pitiful little kitten left out in the rain. “I mean, I still would’ve agreed to come if you’d asked.” 

Baekhyun held out his hand for another piece of tape. “No it’s okay, I didn’t want you to force yourself to go to something you’re uninterested in. I already asked someone else to go with me.”

“Oh,” Sehun said, trying to hide the dismay in his voice. “Did you ask Yixing or something?” 

“Nope, I asked Wooyoung. Yixing said he had a date with that new girl he just met.” 

“_ Wooyoung? _ I never even knew you guys were friends.” Wooyoung was one of the eighth grade math teachers. He was only hired about two years ago and never really talked to anyone much outside of work. He rarely came on their staff bonding trips, which always annoyed the hell out of Junmyeon. Sehun couldn’t even recall the last time the two of them had an actual conversation. 

“He’s been helping me a lot with the fundraiser, you know, with the numbers and stuff. I’m bad with numbers. I mentioned the event to him and he said he would be interested in going since he doesn’t have anything else to do, so I asked if he wanted to come along.” 

This never would’ve happened if Sehun just liked Valentine’s Day like any other normal person. Damn it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“I can’t believe he’s going with Wooyoung. _ Wooyoung _. I’ve never even seen him smile. How is Baekhyun friends with him?” 

Junmyeon eyed him skeptically as he took a sip of his latte; the foam on top was shaped into a heart just how he always liked it. They were at their favorite coffee shop near Junmyeon’s house. It was where they always went to grade assignments. They came so often that they were on a first name basis with all the cashiers and baristas. “Why does it bother you so much? Who cares if they’re friends.” 

“I don’t!” he snapped. He had been in such a crabby mood ever since his talk with Baekhyun. It was shitty to take it out on his friends, but he couldn’t help it. “I just wanted to go to that cafe thing, that’s all.” 

“What?” Junmyeon scoffed. “Why? You’ve always hated anything related to Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah, Sehunnie you’ve been acting...weird lately. What’s going on with you and Baek?” Yixing asked.

Sehun still hadn’t told them about the kiss. It was just plain stupid and embarrassing since not only did he basically take advantage of a drunk Baekhyun, he also got more or less rejected. It wasn’t a direct rejection or anything. Baekhyun did kiss him back, but it might’ve only been because he was intoxicated and didn’t know any better. Either way, Baekhyun didn’t exactly say he liked it when they saw each other again, so it was basically a rejection. He was just glad things hadn’t been weird or awkward between the two of them. 

“Nothing, nothing’s going on.”

“Sehun, you’re terrible at lying. Just tell us already.”

He took a deep breath before saying it all in one quick breath. “_ IkissedBaekhyun _.”

“What?”

Sehun leaned in and stressed his words through clenched teeth. “_ I. Kissed. Baekhyun. _”

The other two teachers’ jaws dropped to the floor and Sehun groaned into his hands. It was even worse saying out loud. 

“What? When?”

“On that night we went to karaoke.”

Junmyeon slapped his arm with a rolled up stack of essays. “Oh my god, it’s been like two months and you’re only telling us now? What the hell, Sehun?”

“So...do you like him now? I don’t get it. I thought you didn’t like him,” Yixing said, confused. 

Sehun shrugged, completely disregarding the fact that he’d been thinking about their kiss nonstop. “I don’t even know! I don’t…not like him?”

Junmyeon leaned back in the chair with a self satisfied grin. “I knew it.” 

“What mean you knew it? Knew _ what _?”

“I _ knew _you’d eventually like him.” 

Sehun scoffed, “You did not. How could you have even known? I didn’t even know. And besides I’m not even saying I do like him. I just said I don’t _ not _ like him.” He did like him, just a _ tiny _bit. A teensy weensy crush that was probably going to fade away in a few weeks. But he definitely was not going to admit that to Junmyeon now that he was being so smug about it. The same happened when he first met Yixing too. It was like a friend crush, if you will. The little bit of infatuation went away after a week once they started becoming closer friends. Plus, Yixing was straight, so it never would’ve worked out between them anyway. 

“Because you were always so obsessed with him. I knew you’d eventually realize your ‘hatred’ toward him was stupid and that you actually just like him. God, you’re such a child.”

“So _ that’s _why you volunteered to work on the fundraiser with him!” Yixing stifled a laugh behind his hands, earning himself a scowl from Sehun. “So what you actually mean is you’re jealous that Baekhyun is spending Valentine’s Day with Wooyoung.”

He wasn’t _ jealous _, per say. He just wanted to be the one going with Baekhyun, that’s all. “What? No, no I’m not- What? I don’t care what he does, I just don’t get why with Wooyoung. They’re just so different. Baekhyun is smiling like all the time and Wooyoung looks like he’s always out to murder everyone. I’m just looking out for him. He probably won’t have a good time with him.”

Okay, so he was a little jealous. He just hated that word; it made him feel like an immature high schooler who had no self control. He had no reason to be jealous, god damn it. He and Baekhyun were just friends. Baekhyun was allowed to do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. Sehun just wished _ he _was the one going with him.

“Why don’t you just tell him you wanna go?”

Sehun slumped in his chair, dejected. “It’s too late. Wooyoung already agreed to go. Even if I did, Baekhyun would probably be too nice to cancel on him just to go with me.” 

Baekhyun was so kind. It made Sehun feel significantly more guilty for hating him for so long. 

“I’m sure they’re just friends, Sehun.” Junmyeon patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. 

He was almost positive they were just friends since he was pretty sure Wooyoung was straight, but still, the fact that he lost his chance to spend time alone with Baekhyun outside of work made him want to lock himself in his apartment all week and mope around like the idiot he felt like he was. 

  
  
  
  
  


Sehun was sure he looked suspicious loitering around Valentine's Day sale at the mall like he was. He wasn’t even sure how he got there. He was there to buy socks, maybe a sweater or two, and somehow stumbled upon the display of painfully cheesy Valentine’s Day gifts: a heart heating changing mug, an ‘I Love You’ toast stamper, a heart gelatin mold, and much, much more. 

“What the...” he muttered, grimacing as he picked up a roll of toilet paper that had ‘I Love You’ printed all over it. People really spent money on this stuff for their loved ones? He quickly put it down and glanced around to make sure no one he knew was in sight. Junmyeon, Minseok, and Tao shopped there often and Sehun would rather be buried alive than to be caught browsing around for a Valentine’s gift. They would never let him live it down. Tao and Jongdae’s relentless mocking after they found out about his and Baekhyun’s kiss was already enough for Sehun to never want to tell them anything ever again. 

And besides, he wasn’t _ actually _going to buy anything. He was just...browsing. For fun. Yeah, that’s it. He didn’t have anyone to buy a gift for even if he wanted to. Not a single person came to mind. 

He picked up an anatomically correct heart plush and chuckled in amusement. Okay, so maybe there was one person he had in mind. It was only because the art teacher loved geeky stuff like this. Just last week during another one of their staff meetings, Sehun saw him doodling a stomach with a smiley face on it with the words ‘i’ve _ gut _a good feeling about this!” underneath it. 

He was about to walk to the register with the plush in hand, but then stopped himself. Would it be weird to buy a friend something for Valentine’s Day? Friends do that stuff all the time, don’t they? Not any Sehun’s friends, but other people did, right? He thought about the possibility of having to see Baekhyun’s confused and uncomfortable face upon receiving the gift and immediately decided it. There was no way he was going to go through another awkward moment. He slammed the plush down onto the table, earning some stares from those around him and quickly exited the store. 

Not a minute later he marched back in, grabbed the plush, and headed straight toward the register before he could change his mind. Boy, was he pathetic. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was not his proudest moment, Sehun had to admit. If there was anyone around to see him they probably would’ve reported him as a suspicious person for sneaking around the front office. Never in a million years did Sehun think he was actually going to contribute to this capitalistic holiday. And yet there he was, sneaking a cheesy gift into a co-worker’s mailbox. Trying to be inconspicuous as possible, Sehun paced back and forth in front of the building until Yoona got up from her desk to go to the restroom. There had to be absolutely no witnesses. Once she was gone he quickly slipped inside, heart plush in hand, and shoved it into Baekhyun’s mailbox. He ran out the door before Yoona came back out and saw him. 

  
  
  
  


The entire morning Sehun felt like he was full of caffeine, all jittery and anxious, unable to focus on his lessons. Had Baekhyun seen the gift yet, he wondered. Did he like it? Sehun almost regretted not leaving a card or note to inform the art teacher that it was from him, but then he thought about the possibility of Baekhyun not liking it and the regret instantly vanished. 

It was at lunch time when he finally saw Baekhyun that day. The art teacher was sitting in the teachers’ lounge, a sandwich in one hand and something strikingly familiar in the other hand. Sehun’s heart skipped a beat upon realizing that he was holding the heart plush. 

“Hey, Baek,” Yixing said. “What’s that?”

Baekhyun grinned as he held it up proudly. Sehun sucked in a breath, heartbeat increasing in excitement. “It’s anatomically correct heart!”

“Why do you have it here?” Yixing chuckled. 

“Someone left it in my mailbox. I just saw it.”

“Who’s it from?”

The art teacher shrugged. “I don’t know, they didn’t leave a card or anything. I kinda thought it might’ve been you, but I guess not… It’s cute, right?” 

Baekhyun’s endearing little giggle as he played with the plush was enough to make Sehun wished he had left a card. It would be too weird to come out and tell him now that he was the one who left it. Whatever, Sehun thought. Seeing that smile on the art teacher’s face was more than enough. 

  
  
  


Almost every single student of his had pink or red frosting on or around their mouths from the Valentine’s Day cupcakes Sehun brought in. They were all running around with their handmade heart shaped cards, lace trimmed and glitter galore. This was going to be such a pain to clean up and Sehun was not looking forward to it.

“Mr. Oh, Mr. Oh!” Yeojin called out excitedly as she tugged on the hem of his sweater. Her pigtails were bouncing up and down. 

“Hmm?”

“Do you have a Valentine?”

Seungjae and Minhyuk chimed in with an equally excited ‘yeah, yeah do you?’ making the teacher burst into laughter. “Nope, not this year.” 

Chaewon looked up at him curiously with a pink lollipop between her lips. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess no one wanted to be my Valentine this year,” he said, feigning sadness. 

“Mr. Baekhyun does!” 

Sehun’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the art teacher’s name. “He does? How do you know?”

Seungjae eagerly nodded, “We asked him if he had a Valentine and he said no, so we told him he should be yours since we didn’t think you have one and he said he would love that!”

Sehun knew there was a good chance Baekhyun was only saying that to humor the kids, yet he still couldn’t seem to stop the smile spreading across his face. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ March _

What Sehun thought to be a small crush that would eventually disappear once they became better friends actually bloomed into full blown feelings of which had not disappeared whatsoever. He only realized this when he saw a despondent Baekhyun and wanted to do whatever was in his power to cheer him up. 

Sehun had never seen Baekhyun so sad before. Well, besides Thanksgiving night when he was crying alone on the front porch. The art teacher had planned a field trip for the fourth graders to go to a museum, but it was canceled last minute since the school couldn’t find any money in the budget for transportation. 

Baekhyun was completely crestfallen upon receiving the bad news. He looked like a kicked puppy, making Sehun want to scoop him up in his arms and cuddle with him until he turned that frown upside down. He didn’t do this, of course, no matter how much he wanted to. 

“Sorry, Baek. I know you really wanted to take the kids to the museum.” Yixing put a comforting hand on the art teacher’s shoulder. 

“It’s okay...I know it’s no one’s fault, these budget cuts have been really messing with everyone. The kids were just so excited you know? Some of them have never been to a museum before.”

Sehun wanted to say something comforting, but he genuinely didn’t know any words of comfort. That was more of Yixing’s department. Instead he excused himself and left the coffee shop to head to the nearest bakery. He had seen one on the way there, it had pink walls, yellow trimmings, and a very big drawing of a slice of vanilla cake with a strawberry on top on the front window. It caught his eye because Baekhyun loved strawberries. Once he even had a tupperware of strawberries for lunch. It was weird, yet endearing at the same time. 

Sehun bought one of every single strawberry dessert and pastry in the bakery and brought them back to the coffee shop. He set the paper boxes on the table in front of the art teacher, who looked up at him with a confused expression. 

He motioned for him to open them. “They’re for you.” 

Baekhyun always looked the happiest when he was eating. His eyes lit up like two stars took temporary residence on his face and it made Sehun’s stomach do flips every time. “Thank you, Sehun!” 

At that moment, it finally dawned on Sehun that he could never be friends with Baekhyun, not with the way he was smiling up at him like he was the only person in the room. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Working with Baekhyun now that Sehun realized his feelings for him was a lot more difficult than it was before when he hated him. When he hated him, all he had to do was avoid seeing or talking to him. This wasn’t really that difficult since Sehun was with the first graders and Baekhyun worked with almost all the grades, so their paths rarely crossed. 

Now that Sehun actually _ liked _him, his mind was constantly buzzing with thoughts of how he could “coincidentally” run into him around campus. It sounded idiotic, but only because it was very much so. 

It was a sunny Thursday afternoon when Sehun was sitting alone in his class grading the students’ addition and subtraction booklets. These were the most tedious things to grade and he dreaded it everytime. The students were with Baekhyun again, which was fortunate for Sehun because that meant he would get to see him when they came back. 

When they returned, each child had messily drawn and cut out yellow paper duck feet tied around their ankles. They followed behind Baekhyun in a single file line like chicks following their mother to the nearest pond. 

“Come on my little ducklings,” the art teacher cood.

The look on his face was of pure tenderness and warmth. It was almost physically painful for Sehun to stand there and watch, not being able to do a thing about it. 

“We’re duckies today, Mr. Oh!” Chaewon chirped, extending a leg to show him her paper web feet. 

Sehun grinned. “I can see that! Those look like real duck feet.” 

“Yeah, yeah we’re baby ducks!” Minhyuk said. “Mr. Byun is mommy duck and you can be the big daddy duck!”

The two teachers exchanged small, sheepish smiles, their faces colored with blush. That smile was a direct attack, Sehun thought. It was his kryptonite and Baekhyun never missed the opportunity to use it against him. 

“Okay,” the art teacher giggled. “You guys are our little ducklings.” 

“Mr. Byun, Mr. Oh!” Yeojin suddenly called out. She tugged on Sehun’s pant leg until he gave her his attention. “Are you guys gonna get married?” 

“W-What?” 

Baekhyun looked as stunned as he did. “N-No sweetie. Why would we get married?” 

“Because you’re mommy and daddy duck! And you said you liked Mr. Oh!” 

For the quickest second, Sehun was pretty sure he could’ve been pronounced legally dead. His heart skipped a beat and his eyes were as wide as saucers. Baekhyun looked utterly mortfied. “I-I didn’t mean it like- They asked me if I liked you and I said yeah of course I do because we’re friends,” he babbled nervously. 

“No, yeah- Right. Of course that’s what you meant,” Sehun laughed uneasily. 

And just like that, the little ounce of hope he had was gone. It was perhaps one of the most disappointing moments of his life. 

  
  
  
  
  


_ April _

Birthdays were never really a big deal to Sehun. Not his own anyway. He never had big parties; not like Tao did on his twenty-first. Tao got so wasted that he jumped into the public fountain in the park completely naked. Kris had to jump in and fish him out before the police came to arrest him for public indecency. 

On _ Sehun’s _ twenty first birthday, Junmyeon tried to throw him a surprise party since the younger told him he hadn’t had a real birthday party since he was a kid. Key word being _ ‘tried _.’ Sehun figured out what was going on as soon as Jongdae tried to steal the keys to his apartment from him so that Junmyeon could set everything up. He didn’t know why they chose to do it in his own apartment; that was so much harder to pull off than hosting it elsewhere. 

Ever since then they stopped trying to throw parties for him, which he was completely fine with. He was always bad at reacting to big grand gestures anyway. His birthday usually consisted of having food delivered to his apartment and then a movie. There also always had to be chocolate cake, of course. Kyungsoo was always in charge of the cake since Junmyeon almost poisoned everyone a few years ago. 

However, this year was different. Junmyeon and Kris were going to be out of town all weekend, Yixing had to go visit his grandmother, and Tao was on a business trip in China. With already so many people out of town, Sehun decided there was no use getting together just for his birthday if not everyone was going to be there. 

With that in mind, he was extremely surprised to find Baekhyun standing at his door on Sunday night, his hands full with balloons and a big chocolate cake that read ‘happy birthday Sehun♡’ in yellow icing. 

“Baekhyun? What are you- How did you even know where I live?” 

The art teacher pushed passed him and walk into the apartment with curious eyes and a wide grin. “Junmyeon told me. Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday? I would’ve planned something fun. We could’ve gone bowling!”

Sehun shrugged. “I never really like doing anything for my birthday. What are you doing here?” 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want him there. It was that his apartment was in no state for visitors, coats and jackets all over the couch, papers on the floor, and dirty dishes piled up in the sink. He didn’t want Baekhyun’s first impression of his apartment to be of this pig sty. In addition to that, he was wearing his favorite grey sweatpants that were eight years old and a black hoodie that he had since his freshman year of college; it had a hole in the right sleeve from when Tao got mad at him and threatened to chop the whole sleeve off with a pair of very dull scissors. He looked far, _ far _from presentable. 

Baekhyun was wearing a pair of distressed blue jeans and a comfortable oversized peach crewneck sweater. Sehun could see some skin showing through the rips in his thighs. It looked so incredibly soft. 

“I heard that you weren’t gonna do anything for your birthday because everyone was busy. I couldn’t let you spend your birthday alone.”

Baekhyun had a way of making Sehun feel like he’d been reduced to a puddle, like he was melting from the inside out. It was a nice feeling. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal. I baked you this cake, but just reminding you that I’m terrible at baking...so it might not be that good. But it looks pretty, right? I watched like five youtube videos on how to decorate cakes.”

Sehun didn’t care if it tasted bad. As long as Baekhyun made it, he would eat it all. “I’m sure it’s great. Thanks, Baekhyun.”

“Let’s go somewhere.” 

“Where?”

Baekhyun bounced on the tips of toes as he looked up at him with twinkling eyes. “Let’s go to the beach.” 

“I don’t really...like the beach.” He never had. Not even when he was a kid and his family would take weekend trips there once a month. The water was always cold and sand got everywhere. He never understood the fun of it all. 

The look on the other male’s face was one of pure horror. “You don’t like the beach? How could you not like the beach?” 

“I don’t know, I just don’t like dealing with the sand and it’s always so crowded.” 

“I haven’t gone since I was in high school, I really wanna go. Come on, Sehun, I promise it’ll be fun. It’s night time. There won’t be anyone there!” 

How could he ever say no to those puppy dog eyes? “Fine, let’s go,” he sighed. “Let me change really quick.”

“You don’t have to change. I like that outfit on you,” Baekhyun pouted. 

That pout should be illegal, Sehun thought. It was the reason why he had trouble focusing at work. It was the bane of his existence. “_ This _ outfit?” 

Baekhyun nodded, “It looks...cozy.” 

“Yours looks cozier.”

“Really?” He looked down at his sweater. “We can swap clothes if you want. I think you can fit this.”

“Do you always wear sweaters that are too big for you?”

“I like them. It’s more comfortable when I have room to move around. Why, does it look bad?” 

Sehun shook his head, reaching out to play with the hem of Baekhyun’s sweater. “No, it looks...nice. I like how small you look all the time.”

“Small? I do not look _ small _.” 

A flat out lie, Sehun thought. He didn’t push it any further. 

As soon as they got to the beach, Baekhyun ran out onto the sand, kicking off his shoes and headed straight for the waves. He stopped to where the water went up to his ankles and yelped from the cold. Sehun had never seen him so excited before. 

“Put your feet in the water, Sehun!”

“Baekhyun, it’s freezing,” he chuckled. “You should get out before your toes fall off.”

They spend the rest of the night lying in the sand and looking up at the night sky. The moon was like a light bulb surrounded by darkness and most of the stars weren’t visible due to the light pollution from the city, but it was still a lovely sight. The cold breeze from the ocean was stinging at the tips of their noses and their fingertips. They scooted closer together until their arms were flushed and they could feel the heat coming off each other’s bodies. 

“We probably should’ve brought jackets.”

Baekhyun lightly laughed. “Yeah, but this is still fun, right?”

The butterflies in Sehun’s stomach made him feel nauseated, in a good way. Like his heart was constantly trying to break out of his chest to get to Baekhyun. Right now all he wanted to do was touch him. Anywhere, _ everywhere _. His hands. His cheeks. His neck. He wanted to lie there and count every single mole Baekhyun had on his body. 

They stayed there just like that for over an hour, talking about anything that came into their minds. It was Baekhyun who did most of the talking, not that Sehun minded. He could listen to him talk and talk for hours. He talked about how he and his brother used to go the beach together all the time and how they’d stay in the water for so long their parents had to come in and fish them out when they were all pruney. His eyes got all sad when he brought up his parents and how he was going to miss not having a family to go home to during the holidays. It always broke Sehun’s heart to see him so down. 

Sehun told him all his family’s crazy stories to cheer him up. Baekhyun laughed so hard he almost cried when he told him about the time his older brother hid behind the wall and scared him so badly that he dropped their mom’s birthday cake hours before the surprise party. Their mom walked in on them frantically cleaning the mess up with their bare hands. 

“Your family sounds so fun.”

He turned to look at him. “You could always come to my home for the holidays, but I’m warning you they’re really crazy and embarrassing.” 

“Really? You’d let me come?” 

Even in the dark he could see how excited he was. “Of course.”

Their hands were so close, just one move and they would touching for real. Sehun slowly inched his pinky over until it bumped Baekhyun’s. He didn’t stop until his hand was fully on top of his hand, his gaze fixed on the night sky because there was no way he could look at him in the eyes right now. He released the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding once Baekhyun flipped his hand palm side up and laced their numb fingers together. Sehun’s hands felt like they were about to fall off, but even then, this was probably the best birthday he’d ever had. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ May _

They were all supposed to go out for Baekhyun’s birthday. ‘_ They’ _meaning Yixing, Junmyeon, and the rest of the gang. Yet here Sehun was, standing alone with Baekhyun in front of the restaurant acting like two people who were forced to go on a blind date. 

“Where are they?” Baekhyun asked, looking up and down the streets for a familiar face. 

Little did he know that Junmyeon sent Sehun a text about five minutes earlier saying that none of them were coming and to finally take his shot now that they were alone. The group chat was spammed with annoying, yet encouraging, messages from everyone. 

_ ‘Go for it sehunnie!’ _

_ ‘CONFESS TO HIM TONIGHT LOSER OR ELSE’ _

_ ‘THIS IS UR ONLY CHANCE FOR LOVE’ _

_ ‘Srry we didnt tell you earlier but we knew you wouldnt agree’ _

_ ‘Jongdae is right, this is ur only chance for love ur not getting any younger lol’ _

_ ‘Yeah u’ll prob die alone if baek doesnt like u back’ _

_ ‘Tao dont say that !!!! baek def likes him back’ _

Sehun was going to murder them tomorrow, that is if he survived this night. Seven people all just happened not to show up, they couldn’t have been more obvious even if they tried. What was he supposed to tell Baekhyun? _ ‘Oh sorry all seven of them had something come up last minute, so now it’s just the two of us and by the way I like you.’ _Even in his own head it sounded absolutely ridiculous.

“Do you think they’re coming?”

Sehun shook his head. “Junmyeon uh, texted me and said their… car broke down and to just go ahead.” 

“_ All _ of their cars broke down? How?” 

“I guess they carpooled. Anyways,” he cleared his throat. “Where should we go?”

“Well since it was going to be nine of us I thought dinner, but since it’s just us now, let’s go somewhere else. Oh! There’s this park I always drive by that I’ve been wanting to go to. Let’s have a picnic!”

Baekhyun’s special birthday picnic consisted of cold sandwiches from the 7-Eleven on the way to the park. Oven roasted turkey for Sehun and chicken salad for Baekhyun. Baekhyun dragged him to the grass as soon as he parked the car just in time to see the sunset. 

They laid on their backs and watched the sky turn from a pretty coral to a summery orange, then to fiery red until the entire sky looked ablaze. The art teacher proceeded to tell him about how a student gave him a very adorable drawing and he was so happy about it that he hung up above his bed. Sehun was ashamed to admit the amount of time he had spent lying in bed imagining what the other’s bedroom looked like. Baekhyun always looked so blissful when talking about his students. His entire face glowed like the sun and his eyes twinkled so brilliantly, it made Sehun’s heart feel like it was going to explode. 

After they were done with their mediocre sandwiches, Baekhyun threw his crust to the pigeons resting on the bench behind them. Sehun watched warily as the birds got closer and closer. 

The art teacher took notice and chuckled, “What? You don’t like birds?”

Sehun shook his head. “Once when I was little, I rode my bike to the park and was feeding the pigeons. I thought it would be cool to have them eat off me, so I put some bread on top of my head and all the pigeons started attacking me. I was so scared I ran and ran until I fell into the fountain. I was soaking wet when I came home and was too embarrassed to tell my parents what happened, so I just told them some other kids bullied me and pushed me in. I’ve pretty much been traumatized by them ever since.” 

Baekhyun chortled so loud that he scared the birds away. Sehun seriously regretted telling such an embarrassing story since his goal for the day was to woo him. He wasn’t even sure why he told him; he never told anyone before. It was just about the least romantic story to tell your crush. 

“Oh my god,” Baekhyun said between gasps of breath. “I can’t believe you actually did that.”

“You better not tell anyone,” he grimaced. “It’s my deepest darkest secret.” 

He giggled, nodding. “I promise I won’t. Tell me another secret.” 

“No way, not after you _ laughed _at me like that.”

“Come on, I’ll tell you one.”

“Okay, you go first.”

Baekhyun made a show of pondering the question before firmly declaring that he hated cucumbers. 

Sehun scoffed. “That’s not a secret, Baekhyun. I literally always eat all your cucumbers when we eat together.” 

“Fine,” the art teacher sighed. “When I was six my older brother chased me around with a cucumber for so long thatI cried and peed my pants.”

“Oh my god. I can’t believe you’re a bigger loser than me.” This earned him a playful slap to the arm and an endearing pout. 

“It’s your turn now!”

“Okay.” Sehun didn’t know what came over him. He always thought his confession would be more romantic and well thought out. The two of them gazing at the stars, Sehun saying some cheesy and cliche, yet sweet line about how the stars weren’t nearly as lovely as a sight as Baekhyun. Baekhyun would look at him fondly, heart in his eyes. He imagined it to be a dreamy moment. “That night at karaoke when I kissed you, I wasn’t actually drunk.”

This was not that moment. Not only did Sehun have absolutely no idea how to follow up, the smile on Baekhyun’s face morphed into a look of complete and utter shock. It was mortifying, to say the least. It was almost impressive that he was able to render the usually talkative art teacher speechless. 

“I’m sorry,” Sehun sighed, sitting up. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what- Just forget I said that.” 

Baekhyun slowly sat up and met his eyes. He hadn’t said a single word and the silence was almost physically painful. “Sehun, do you…like me?”

Sehun gulped. “Yeah, sorry.”

It was only for a second that he saw it. The small grin that slowly pulled at the corners of the art teacher’s lips. Even in that quick second, he felt like his heart might stop and the moment Baekhyun leaned in and their lips touched, he swore it did. 

  
  
  
  


_ June _

On the last day of school, they sat together on the swings after all the students were picked up by their guardians or off to the after school program. They could hardly keep their eyes off each other as they swung back and forth, their feet slightly dragging on the ground since they weren’t paying attention enough to lift their legs higher. Baekhyun bit back a grin and Sehun didn’t bother hiding the one on his own face. They had promised to stay professional on school grounds, which was tough since Sehun found the art teacher oh-so-adorable when he smiled. Or laughed. Or did anything at all, really. It was maddening. Junmyeon was almost certain he had a problem. 

There’s a thin line between love and hate. Sehun didn’t mind having to cross this line over and over again if Baekhyun was waiting for him on the other side. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello loves! I hope you guys enjoyed this fic hehe. @ all my regular readers did you know this was the one i wrote?? Lol i’ve never much this much work into a oneshot before lmosafhkjg. And yes i went back and added quite a bit because i had a lot of ideas before writing, but then i just forgot to put them in bc i was so stressed about finishing by the deadline so yeah
> 
> Anyways, this is dedicated to the anon who asked me if i was going to join the fic fest bc i literally never would’ve joined if it wasn’t for you. (you know who you are LOL) thank you for thinking about me! 
> 
> And also a BIG thank you to the mods for hosting this fic fest, it was so much fun and i’m so glad to have been apart of it along with the other amazing authors. Be sure to check out their stories also if you haven’t already. 
> 
> And lastly, thank you to whoever came up with this prompt! I’m actually in studying to be an elementary school teacher in college rn so when i saw this prompt i was like ahh!!!! It’s the perfect prompt for me TT 
> 
> P.S. i work in a kindergarten class and we actually made duck hehe are are some pics my little ducklings !! they were actually calling each other daddy duck and mommy duck it was so cute TT 
> 
> [pic 1](https://66.media.tumblr.com/b6b0840b311d950f984f09d3e422114f/db4b74a4424e5e94-42/s540x810/3ea5fc221c063c9fd64eee1810e014be14b64631.jpg) [pic 2](https://66.media.tumblr.com/da5ee8262329a6674a35d0e3d0b9d91e/fb6d207f983708e6-6d/s540x810/877cf594ab2c89f1ddad48fe28cd5a329f724779.jpg)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated ♡ 
> 
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> 
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